Martin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late. I was attending the health committee, which occurs at the same time as this one. I thank our witnesses for coming in today. I am struck by the commission's report, which states we have signed up to international obligations in the area of disability. The areas of concern are areas we thought we had consigned to history: institutionalisation, congregation and the abuse of people living with disability.

I have just come from the health committee, at which Safeguarding Ireland pointed out the endemic, widespread nature of adult abuse. One of the areas of that adult abuse concerns people living with disability. We tend to narrow it down to institutional care such as nursing homes, but the vast majority of abuse is occurring in the community, perpetrated by people who are known to the victims; sometimes relatives, friends, carers or neighbours. We spoke about the need for a safeguarding authority. This would begin with updating safeguarding legislation, and would be followed by the establishment of a safeguarding authority, which would have an overarching responsibility for safeguarding. There is no one door to go through if there are issues of abuse within the community. It is fragmented. It involves the HSE, An Garda Síochána and other institutions but there is no joined-up organisational approach to it. Having come from the health committee, I wish to ask our representatives about their views on safeguarding people living with disability in the community.